Recommended Games

Checking in on 2012′s Best and Worst Performers

In the spirit of recapping the highlights and lowlights on Wall Street as 2013 draws to a close, today we’re taking a look back at the biggest winners and losers in the ETF space from 2012 to see how they have fared following their impressive, or in some cases dismal, performances.

The majority of the best performing ETFs from 2012 managed to turn in positive, although not nearly as impressive, performances in 2013, continuing their winning streaks and rewarding buy-and-hold investors. Two of the biggest winners from 2012, the Health Care GEMS ETF (HGEM) and the Industrials GEMS ETF (IGEM), however, didn’t make it back on the list this year after failing to accumulate a meaningful amount of assets, which prompted their closure [for more ETF updates, sign up for the free ETFdb newsletter]:

On the losing side, many of 2012′s worst performers failed to reverse course this past year, although one ETF in particular did post truly stellar double-digit returns. Below, we highlight the funds profiled last year in our 10 Best Performing ETFs In 2012 and 10 Worst ETF Performers In 2012 with an update on their 2013 performances.

Please note that the year-to-date ETF returns featured below are as of December 6th, 2013:

The end of July ended on a mixed note with the S&P 500 still more than 1% off of highs but still right in line with the end of May. The bull market is nearing six and a half years old as well. Many investors ...

Many investors love undiscovered hidden value in stocks, even if it is in a stock that they know. Some of the most very aggressive investors will even reach for the stars, chasing stocks that could double ...

The fall in market value of companies hit by penalties over breaches committed by third parties can be 10 times as much as the fine itself, underscoring the damage done to shareholders by misconduct, according ...

Question: I have tried to make payments under protest to my homeowner association, but my board will not allow it. It said that paying an assessment by check under protest is not in the law. It refuses ...

A decade ago Zhang Xiongjie was a teenage infantryman patrolling China's bleak border with North Korea. Now he stays in swanky hotels and drives a Mercedes Benz CLS - a remarkable rags-to-riches journey achieved in part by dominating one of the most obscure corners of China's unruly financial…

Iran plans to buy as many as 90 planes per year from Boeing and Airbus to revamp its antiquated fleet once Western sanctions are lifted, its state news agency IRNA quoted a senior aviation official as saying on Sunday. "Iran will buy a total of 80-90 planes per year from the two aviation giants…

Greek traders said on Sunday they expected a torrid day of losses when the Athens stock market opens after being shuttered for five weeks as part of attempts to stop Greece's financial collapse. A combination of pent-up trading, worries about the future and Greece's worsening economy could knock 20…